In such a highly competitive global market, it stands to reason why marketing consulting is one of the leading sectors within the Services Industry. Even with the worldwide pandemic, marketing consulting as a whole still hit $132 billion in 2020. Overall, marketing is a pinnacle organizational element to obtain new levels of profitable growth and brand awareness.
The next big question for businesses is how they can ensure that they will reach their objectives and receive favorable marketing outcomes. Though several marketing consulting models can be utilized, the one that offers the most professional serenity is leveraging a marketing retainer.
What Is A Marketing Retainer?
If you have ever wanted to have a complete marketing department, then a marketing retainer may be what you need. By definition, a marketing retainer is a contractual agreement between a business owner and a marketing consulting agency that includes a fixed monthly, quarterly, or sometimes yearly budget in exchange for full-scope marketing services. These retainers are generally long-term, are not project-specific, and are a fundamental way for businesses to reach their goals using a skilled team that they did not have to build themselves.
Side Note: Though every agency has its own rates, the average yearly retainer range is between $10k-$125k for small to medium-sized businesses. In many cases, ad spend is also a separate cost.
What’s Included?
When someone opts for a marketing retainer, they can expect to receive a vast range of services, including:
- Content marketing
- Media planning and management
- Traditional and digital advertising
- Strategic campaign planning
- SEO
- Website conversion optimization
- Reputation management
- And much more.
These services help develop strong brand awareness, increase sales, improve website traffic, and lead over an extended period.
What Are the Client Benefits?
There are many benefits for clients when signing up for a marketing retainer, such as having a predictable invoice, continuous reporting to see if their retainer is working, gaining priority service, and having an agency with a deeper business perspective the ongoing collaboration. Over time, these professionals will be able to act as part of your immediate team as they grow with you. It can quickly become the catalyst for better value as that relationship manifests.
What Are the Benefits for the Marketing Agency?
Marketing retainers are not a one-way street and deliver some profound advantages to the agency as well. For example, having a few long-term clients vs. many short-term ones inevitably enhances the quality and focus because fewer relationships are prioritized. This long-term nature gives marketing consulting professionals more margin for creativity, growth, and time to develop spearheading plans for their clients that drive successful results. In conjunction with real-time efforts, it can lead to these experts tapping into new innovative marketing tactics cultivated through brainstorming that give their clients a competitive edge.
Conclusion – Is A Retainer Right for You?
In summary, marketing retainers are an excellent way to build a strong relationship with a reputable marketing consulting agency and have the security that the marketing agency meets your business goals and objectives. Furthermore, marketing retainers allow agencies the flexibility and freedom to create multi-channeled marketing campaigns using a cohesive plan that is easy to track for success/failure. However, this approach is not meant for everyone.
In the end, marketing retainers are the most appropriate for businesses who have an adequate marketing budget to pay upfront and desire to use an integrated approach to advance. It also means companies that only require marketing support during certain seasons or do not have an interest in expanding may be better suited with a project-based model instead. All in all, analyze your short and long-term goals, align those findings with your budget, and speak with a marketing consultant to gain professional insight so you can ideally position yourself to achieve the future you are envisioning.